novelapdf Chapter 128 These Two Fools and Idiots
Chapter 128 These Two Fools and Idiots
Upon hearing Jiang Mu's comment that she "still retains her charm," Yan Zixiao almost spat out her wine and couldn't help but sneer:
"Kid, have you gone stupid from reading too much?"
"Or have your eyes grown into your crotch? You actually find this old tree bark, which reeks of evil, appealing to you? You're really indiscriminate in your choices!"
After speaking, Yan Zixiao pointed with her sword.
The broadsword behind him emitted a clear, resonant dragon's roar.
Enveloped in crimson pure yang fire, it transformed into a blazing rainbow, heading straight for the tree demon grandmother in mid-air.
"You old hag, prepare to die!"
The Tree Demon Granny hovered in mid-air, watching the approaching flying sword, a hint of disdain appearing on her alluring face.
With a wave of her long sleeves, the vines flying everywhere transformed into a shield, blocking the flying sword, while she sneered shrilly:
"Yan Zixiao, what right do you have to lecture me?"
"Back then, for the sake of a fox demon, you did not hesitate to betray your sect and even collude with evil forces, which led to your expulsion from the Ten Thousand Swords Sect."
What? Now you're playing the role of a righteous gentleman, slaying demons and monsters? How utterly ridiculous!
Upon hearing this, Yan Zixiao's expression turned cold.
With a series of sword techniques, the Crimson Rainbow Heavy Sword shone brightly and slammed into the rattan shield, sending wood chips flying everywhere.
"Shut up, you old hag!"
He roared in rebuttal,
"I, Yan, only seek to act with a clear conscience!"
Unlike you, old demon! Your sister disregarded clan rules and fell in love with a mortal from the Demon Slayer Division. She betrayed the demon race for so-called true love, and what was the result? She was killed!
As a result, you, as the older sister, have also been despised and driven out by the demon race, and can only hide in this desolate mountain wilderness as a lonely ghost!
How dare you spout such nonsense here?
"You're asking for it!"
These words clearly struck a nerve with Grandma.
Her beautiful face immediately contorted, and her eyes turned bloodshot.
Her once smooth, long hair transformed into thousands of sharp vines, shooting towards Yan Zixiao like a torrential rain.
"Let's see who dies first!"
Yan Zixiao showed no weakness, returning her heavy sword to defense with a dense and impenetrable attack.
The two fought back and forth, locked in a fierce and evenly matched battle.
Jiang Mu squatted in the corner, watching the two, a human and a demon, passionately hurling insults at each other and then fighting fiercely, thoroughly enjoying the spectacle.
Suddenly, Ji Hongyuan's languid voice softly sounded in his ear:
"Little one, don't just watch the show. This tree spirit... something's not right."
"Something's not right?"
Jiang Mu paused, squinting as she carefully examined the tree demon in the air, and asked in a low voice, "Something's not right? This demon looks pretty fierce." Ji Hongyuan chuckled softly.
"It's powerful, but it's just a clone."
"A clone?!"
Jiang Mu was startled and gasped.
"A clone can fight Yan Zixiao, a master who is close to the fifth realm, to a standstill, and even slightly gain the upper hand? How strong must her main body be? Sixth-rank? Seventh-rank?"
The information from the Demon Slayer Division is so inadequate!
Where is the promised early stage of Tier 5?
Which ancient demon did they forget to include?
"Don't rush."
Ji Hongyuan seemed to sense Jiang Mu's worry and said calmly,
"This clone carries a strong aura of death, and its aura is unstable."
In my opinion, the tree demon's main body must have suffered a severe Dao injury, or be undergoing some kind of dangerous transformation, and has no choice but to use this clone to collect essence outside, or even use corpse energy to heal its main body.
Her situation is somewhat similar to mine. However, she's probably in a worse situation than me; her physical body might not be much stronger.
Jiang Mu's eyes flashed.
Turns out it was a weak BOSS!
If a powerful demon of this level were to recover its strength, it would undoubtedly cause endless trouble.
Now is the perfect time to kick a dog when it's down!
"Can we use this clone to find her original location?" Jiang Mu asked.
"cannot."
Ji Hongyuan simply poured cold water on the situation.
"Sister, I'm in a precarious situation myself, barely able to save myself. How could I possibly have the ability to locate someone remotely? You'll have to figure it out yourself."
Jiang Mu: ..…….…”
Just as the two were exchanging glances, the battle situation suddenly changed.
Unable to break through after a prolonged attack, Yan Zixiao finally lost her temper.
He roared, bit his tongue, and spat a mouthful of blood onto the heavy sword.
"Heaven and earth are boundless, and the universe borrows their power!"
"cut!"
Yan Zixiao suddenly shouted and clasped her hands together.
The greatsword trembled violently in the air, and golden runes appeared on its blade, shining brightly.
The sword light crashed down with tremendous force.
The tree demon's expression changed drastically, and countless roots surged upwards, only to break apart like paper under the terrifying sword light.
"ah!!"
Amidst screams, the Tree Demon Granny was struck by the sword energy, almost half of her body was sliced off, and dark green sap gushed out.
A cold glint flashed in Yan Zixiao's eyes, and she was about to deliver the final blow.
However, at this moment...
Suddenly, the Tree Demon Granny spread her arms, transforming into a gigantic ancient tree. Its trunk was as thick as a pillar, its canopy blocked out the sky, and countless roots spread wildly as if they were alive!
"You want to kill me? Then we'll die together!"
The roots surged toward Yan Zixiao in an instant, binding him tightly!
Yan Zixiao roared, and his sword energy erupted, severing the roots that were binding him one by one.
But those roots seemed to be endless.
As soon as one batch breaks off, even more surges up.
"Open it!!"
Yan Zixiao grabbed a thick tree root with both hands and pulled hard, uprooting the tree.
At that very moment, there was a sudden "bang".
The tree demon's clone exploded with a bang.
Amidst the flying sawdust and sap, a beam of blood-red light suddenly shot out and struck Yan Zixiao directly.
It is about the size of a palm.
It was pressed against his chest at that moment, radiating a magnificent red light.
Yan Zixiao's expression changed drastically, and his body swayed as if something was trying to crawl into his body.
"Damn it!"
Ignoring everything else, Yan Zixiao quickly sat cross-legged on the ground, formed hand seals, and was surrounded by sword energy.
An attempt was made to expel the blood toxins that had invaded the body.
In mid-air, the fading phantom of the Tree Demon Granny let out a triumphant shriek:
"Xiaoqian, I've trapped this guy. He won't die for a while, but he can't move either!"
You must quickly take that scholar back to the temple!
Grandma, I need his heart and liver to nourish myself, quick!
Upon hearing this, Nie Xiaoqian, who had been hiding in the corner, trembled.
She glanced at Yan Zixiao, who was sitting cross-legged and unable to move, and then at Jiang Mu, who was "terrified." She gritted her teeth, and with a sway of her body, she was about to pounce on Jiang Mu.
"You dare, you monster!"
Just then, Yan Zixiao, who had been forcing out the poison with her eyes closed, suddenly opened them and spat it out.
"call out!"
A golden sword talisman flew out of his mouth.
It struck Nie Xiaoqian's back with lightning speed.
"what!"
Nie Xiaoqian let out a miserable scream, her body stiffened, and she collapsed to the ground.
The sword talisman transformed into several golden sword energies, binding her firmly to the spot like ropes, rendering her unable to move.
"Kid! Run!"
Yan Zixiao's face turned even paler, and cold sweat poured down his forehead, clearly indicating that this attack had worsened his injuries. However, he still roared at Jiang Mu, "This female ghost is immobilized by my sword talisman and cannot break free for the time being."
Although that old hag's clone was destroyed, her main body must have sensed it. Now's the time to get out of here!
Roll as far away as possible!
After roaring, he closed his eyes again, focusing all his efforts on suppressing the blood poison in his body, and had no time to care about anything else.
In a corner of the main hall.
Xu Fu was still lying on his side, with his back to them, fast asleep, snoring evenly.
Jiang Mu's lips twitched.
Could this guy have actually been infected and passed out?
He withdrew his gaze and looked at Nie Xiaoqing, who was lying on the ground, unable to move due to the sword energy.
"it hurts!"
The beautiful young ghost was trapped by the sword energy, writhing in pain.
She raised her head, her clear eyes looking at Jiang Mu, deliberately revealing two sharp little tiger teeth, and threatened him fiercely:
"You stinking scholar, don't you dare run away! Otherwise, once I'm free, I'll definitely catch up with you and bite you to death!"
She made what she thought was a fierce expression.
But because of the pain, her little face was scrunched up, which made her look not fierce at all, but rather cute and a little bit fierce.
Jiang Mu's heart stirred.
The Tree Demon Granny just said to have this girl take him to the "temple"?
Isn't that the tree demon's lair?
Just when I was worried about not being able to find the old witch's true form, this is the perfect guide!
It's like a pillow being delivered to someone who's just fallen asleep!
Thinking of this, Jiang Mu's eyes lit up, and she immediately got into character.
He straightened his clothes, adopted the bookish look he had just displayed, and said to the girl with a serious expression:
"Young lady, please don't say that. Although I am just a scholar, I have read the classics."
As the sage said, all humans have a heart of compassion, and so do demons.
"That senior just now said you are demons, but in my opinion, the young lady is so beautiful, she must not be a bad demon, so why would she harm me?" Yan Zixiao, who was healing with her eyes closed, almost spat out a mouthful of blood when she heard this.
He opened his eyes and angrily cursed:
"You idiot! Have you gone mad from reading too much or have you been blinded by greed?!"
That's a ghost! A man-eating ghost!
She almost killed you just now, and you're still telling her about the inherent goodness of human nature?! I think you're just blinded by beauty and have lost your brain. Get out of here! Don't get in my way!
Nie Xiaoqian was also stunned.
She stared wide-eyed at Jiang Mu as if he were a fool.
This scholar...
Is your brain filled with mush?
I scared him like that, and he still thinks I'm a good person?
She thought she was stupid enough and was often scolded by her grandmother for being stupid. She never expected that there would be someone in the world who was even stupider than her.
Is he missing a screw in his head?
However, this did give her an opportunity.
Nie Xiaoqian's eyes darted around, and she immediately dropped her fierce expression, replacing it with a pitiful, tearful look, and softly said:
"Young master...do you...do you really believe me?"
She turned her head with difficulty, her tearful eyes looking at Jiang Mu, her voice choked with emotion.
"Actually, I was forced into it."
I don't want to hurt anyone, but... but if I don't listen to her, she'll make me disappear completely.
Young master, could you...
Could you please help me remove this talisman from my back?
"If you let me go, I'll leave right away and never come back. I promise I'll never hurt you!"
Jiang Mu's face showed hesitation and conflict.
"Don't believe her!!"
Yan Zixiao was so anxious that his veins bulged. If he weren't immobilized, he would have rushed over and kicked this idiot to death.
"That's a lying female ghost!"
If you remove the talisman, she will immediately turn hostile!
You won't even know how you died! Don't let her beauty bewitch you; she's all a pretty face and a skeleton! It's an illusion!
Jiang Mu seemed to be swayed by Yan Zixiao's words and withdrew her hand.
Seeing this, Nie Xiaoqian was extremely anxious, and tears streamed down her face like a broken string of pearls:
"Young master... I'm in so much pain... This sword energy feels like fire burning my soul... If I really wanted to harm you, why did I say so much to you just now?"
Young master, please have mercy and save me... I will definitely repay you in the future...
Jiang Mu gritted her teeth, a look of struggle appearing on her face.
Finally, he raised his head and said to Yan Zixiao with a serious expression:
"Master Yan, as the sage said: all beings are equal."
Although this girl is a ghost, she still has a kind heart. Heaven cherishes life, and we, as people who have studied the classics, how can we stand by and watch her die? If I were to sit idly by and let her soul dissipate in order to save my own life, wouldn't all my studies have been in vain?
I believe that as long as we treat her with sincerity, we can eventually win her over.
You just said that humans and demons are different.
In my opinion, the difference lies not between humans and demons, but between good and evil. If one harbors goodness in their heart, even a demon can be saved. If one harbors evil in their heart, even a human should be punished.
Yan Zixiao was dumbfounded.
No, why is this guy so annoying?
"Master Yan, please forgive me."
Having said that, Jiang Mu no longer hesitated and reached out to grab the golden sword talisman on Nie Xiaoqian's back.
"you"
Yan Zixiao trembled with rage. "You idiot! You'll regret this! You'll definitely regret it!"
"Rip!"
Jiang Mu pulled hard.
He tore the sword talisman off, and it dissipated into specks of light.
The girl broke free and floated in mid-air, rubbing her back, which was stinging from the sword energy, and looked down at the foolish scholar before her. He really... let me go?
She was somewhat dazed.
From a young age, her grandmother told her that all people are bad and that she should kill any demon she saw.
But this scholar in front of me...
"Girl, you should leave now. Don't come back."
Jiang Mu looked at Nie Xiaoqian and said softly.
Yan Zixiao closed her eyes in anguish, muttering desperately, "Fool... hopeless..."
Nie Xiaoqian bit her lip, glanced at Yan Zixiao who was still struggling to get up, sighed softly, and floated down, her five fingers outstretched, grabbing Jiang Mu's wrist.
"Ah! Miss, you..." Jiang Mu feigned panic.
"Stupid scholar,"
Nie Xiaoqian spoke coldly, but her voice was not as fierce as before, "Today I will teach you a lesson: the more beautiful a woman is, the less you can believe what she says."
Jiang Mu's face turned deathly pale, and her whole body trembled:
"You...you really want to hurt me? Did I misjudge you?"
"Ha ha ha ha!"
Yan Zixiao laughed heartily, tears welling in his eyes. "Kid, now you know, right? This is the result of your 'conversion'! Serves you right!" The girl turned and made a face at Yan Zixiao, sticking out her tongue.
"You stinky Taoist priest, you'd better mind your own business first! I'm in a good mood today, so I won't bother with you!"
After saying that, she floated away, carrying Jiang Mu with her, and flew out of the temple.
"You bastard!"
Yan Zixiao was so angry that she cursed loudly, but she could only watch helplessly as the two figures disappeared into the vast night.
Inside the main hall, deathly silence returned.
A while later.
Xu Fu, who had been fast asleep in the corner, suddenly stretched and slowly sat up.
He casually picked up a blade of dry grass from the ground and put it in his mouth. Looking at Yan Zixiao's exasperated appearance, a smile appeared on his lips: "Alright, stop howling. Don't worry, my young master will be fine."
Yan Zixiao suddenly turned her head.
Staring at the unharmed page, he exclaimed in astonishment, "You weren't drugged?!"
He was almost bewitched by that alluring fragrance earlier.
How could this seemingly unskilled page be completely unharmed?
Xu Fu spat out the grass root in his mouth, dusted himself off, and said with a faint smile, "Just a little trick of the martial world, nothing special." Yan Zixiao narrowed her eyes, carefully examining Xu Fu, her expression becoming serious.
"Who exactly are you?"
A pageboy who remains so calm in the face of demons and monsters, even when his young master is captured, is no ordinary person.
Xu Fu didn't speak, but simply took out a black iron token from his robes, tossed it in his hand, and then showed it to Yan Zixiao. Demon Slayer Division!
Yan Zixiao's pupils contracted sharply, and then she suddenly realized what was happening.
He gave a wry smile, shook his head, and said self-deprecatingly, "So it's a high-ranking official from the Demon Slayer Division... No wonder, no wonder..."
"It seems that I, Yan, was blind and presumptuous, almost ruining the important plans of the two lords."
"That one must have been a master from the Demon Slayer Division, right? This scholar's disguise...it's quite convincing."
Xu Fu put away the token and said calmly:
"I've heard of you. Yan Zixiao, former core disciple of the Ten Thousand Swords Sect."
Years ago, for the sake of a demon woman, he betrayed his sect, was expelled, and wandered the world...
I never expected to meet you here today.
Having his secret exposed, Yan Zixiao's expression changed, a hint of pain and nostalgia flashing in his eyes, before he gave a dry laugh:
"These are all old, trivial matters, best left unmentioned. What? Does the official intend to settle old scores with me now?" Xu Fu smiled but did not reply.
He stood up, walked to the palace entrance, and gazed at the dark night outside, his eyes deep and thoughtful.
"Aren't you going to rescue your colleague?" Yan Zixiao couldn't help but ask.
"Need not."
Xu Fu said calmly, "That guy is much more powerful than you think. That female ghost can't touch him."
Yan Zixiao felt somewhat relieved upon hearing this.
He sighed, his expression somewhat desolate:
"I was just passing by when I sensed a demonic aura. I had also heard that things had been going wrong at Meiruo Temple lately, so I thought I'd take the opportunity to slay the demon and accumulate some good karma. But I never expected to encounter this tree demon."
He paused, his expression becoming somewhat complicated.
"Actually, this tree demon wasn't considered a bad demon back then."
Back then, she and her sister were also kind demons who never harmed anyone and often helped the villagers at the foot of the mountain.
such a pity……
For some reason, her silly younger sister fell in love with a demon slayer from the Demon Slayer Bureau.
Humans and demons are destined to be apart, so how could there be a good outcome?
In the end, he met a tragic end, leaving not even his soul behind.
The tree spirit's personality changed drastically as a result. In order to seek revenge, it did not hesitate to cultivate evil magic, and eventually became the ferocious creature it is today...
At this point, Yan Zixiao sighed deeply.
Xu Fu remained with his back to him, without saying a word.
But in the shadow of the firelight, a faint sadness and bitterness quietly surfaced in his eyes.